Child Psychology & Counselling
When a child is wrestling with worry, anger, low mood or behaviour that is hard to reach, our clinical and child psychologist in Model Town, Multan gives them — and you — someone steady to lean on.
About Child Psychology
A child psychologist works on the part of childhood that is not speech or movement: how a child feels, copes and behaves. At Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center on MPS Road in Block A, Model Town, Multan, our clinical and child psychologist Muhammad Salman Afzal sees children aged 3 to 16 for anxiety, anger, low mood, fears, shaky confidence and behaviour that leaves the whole house on edge.
Most parents who contact us have carried the same worry quietly for months. Worry that will not switch off. Anger that boils over at nothing. A child who has gone quiet, or cannot sleep. You do not need a diagnosis, a referral or the clinical word for it — a child psychologist (بچوں کا ماہر نفسیات) is who you describe it to.
Sessions are one-to-one, confidential and paced to your child rather than to a programme, and parents sit inside the plan rather than outside it. The first conversation is free and commits you to nothing.
Who this is for
- Children who are anxious or clingy, or who worry a great deal
- Frequent anger, tantrums or meltdowns beyond what is usual for their age
- Low mood, sadness, or pulling away from play and friends
- Fears, trouble sleeping, or struggling to cope with change, illness or loss
- Trouble focusing, or behaviour that is hard to manage at home or at school
- A child who holds it together all day at school and falls apart the moment they get home
- Emotional and behavioural support for autistic and neurodivergent children
- Parents who want expert guidance and a clear plan to follow
How does a child psychologist actually help?
A child psychologist looks at the whole picture — how a child feels, thinks, behaves, sleeps, learns and gets along with other people — and works out what is driving the difficulty rather than only what it looks like. The support is then built around that child: play- and talk-based sessions for them, and practical strategies for the parents at home.
How that looks depends on age. A five-year-old shows you a worry long before they can explain it, so young children are met through play, drawing and stories. Older children talk and practise one coping step between sessions. Parents get the same strategies in plain words, because most of the change happens in the hours we are not there.
We set two or three goals you can actually see — sleeping in his own bed, getting through a school morning without a meltdown, putting a hand up in class — and review them with you. If nothing is moving, we say so and change the plan.
Child psychologist, psychiatrist or behaviour therapist — which one do we need?
A child psychologist assesses and supports emotions, thinking and behaviour through assessment, talking and play, and cannot prescribe medicine. A child psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can prescribe. A behaviour (ABA) therapist teaches specific skills and eases the behaviour that is getting in the way, through structured, rewarding sessions.
In Pakistan you will also see the titles clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist and school psychologist; the everyday Urdu word for all of them is ماہر نفسیات. The distinction matters less than parents fear, because the first step is the same — describe what you are seeing and let the team work out who should lead.
Our psychologist and our ABA therapists work in the same building, so plenty of children see both: the psychologist on the feelings underneath, the behaviour team on the skills on top. We do not prescribe medication or advise on it. If a medical opinion looks necessary, we say so and suggest a paediatrician or psychiatrist.
What child psychology support do you offer in Multan?
We are on MPS Road in Block A, Model Town, near Bloomfield Hall School, and we see children Monday to Saturday. Sessions run in Urdu or English, whichever your child speaks most easily.
- Psychological and behavioural assessment, to understand what is actually driving the difficulty
- Child-friendly counselling for anxiety, anger, low mood, fears and self-esteem
- Emotional regulation and coping skills, taught in steps a child can genuinely use
- Parent coaching — the same strategies, in plain words, for the home
- Family guidance through hard changes: a new school, a move, illness, separation or bereavement
- Joined-up work with our speech, behaviour and special education team when a child needs more than one of us
What can you start doing at home this week?
Most of what settles a worried or angry child happens between sessions, in ordinary moments. None of this needs a resource pack, a screen or an hour you do not have.
- Name the feeling before you fix it. “You are furious that it broke” reaches a child that “calm down” never will.
- Give worry a time slot. Ten unhurried minutes after school to tell you everything stops it leaking into bedtime.
- Warn before you switch. Children who blow up at transitions are usually blowing up at the surprise, not the task.
- Say out loud the thing you want more of, and be specific: “you waited while I was on the phone”.
- Keep the boundary and drop the volume. The rule can stay exactly where it is while your voice comes down.
- Protect sleep first. Almost every emotional difficulty in childhood gets heavier on a short night.
What usually changes first, and when should we worry more?
What changes first is usually not the feeling but what a child does with it. Meltdowns get shorter before they get rarer. A child starts saying they are scared instead of refusing to leave the house. Sleep often settles early. Confidence is the slowest part, and it moves in weeks rather than days.
Some things should not wait for a therapy slot. If your child talks about wanting to die or about hurting themselves, stops eating or drinking, loses skills they clearly had, or if you have any concern about their safety, contact a doctor the same day. We will always tell you plainly when a child needs a paediatrician, a psychiatrist or a hospital rather than us.
A safe space, free of judgement
Children open up when they feel safe. Sessions are calm and unhurried, and nobody here is judging your child or your parenting — most of the parents who sit in this room have already tried very hard, for a long time, on their own.
We explain how we work before we begin, including what stays between your child and the psychologist and what we will always bring to you. And say it however it comes out: if the sentence you would actually use is bacha aik jagah nahi baithta, that is a good place to start.
What a session actually looks like
- 1A free first conversation, with you doing most of the talking — what you are seeing, when it started, what you have already tried.
- 2Assessment: time with your child, and what school is noticing, so the plan rests on more than one afternoon.
- 3Early sessions spend themselves on trust. A child who does not feel safe in the room will tell you nothing useful, and we are in no hurry.
- 4Then the work: naming feelings, coping steps practised in the room, and one small thing to try before we meet again.
- 5A short parent catch-up each time, and a review against the goals, so you can see what has moved.
What the research tells us
This isn’t just our opinion — it’s grounded in published research. Here are a few findings from trusted, independent sources:
A Cochrane review of 87 studies found that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) — a core psychological approach to childhood anxiety — leaves far more children free of their main anxiety diagnosis than being left on a waiting list: around 49 in every 100 children after CBT, compared with around 18 in every 100 who had no treatment. The reviewers rated this moderate-quality evidence.
— Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews — James, Reardon, Soler, James & Creswell (2020), CD013162. View source
Other ways we can help
Speech Therapy
Help for late talkers, unclear speech, stammering and language delay, through play your child enjoys.
Motor & Daily Skills
Motor, handwriting and self-care skills, built up through purposeful play.
ABA Therapy
ABA and positive-behaviour support for autism, ADHD and hard-to-manage behaviour.
Child Psychology: your questions answered
What conditions does a child psychologist treat?
Anxiety and constant worry, anger and explosive behaviour, low mood, fears and phobias, separation and sleep difficulties, low confidence, and coping with change, illness or loss. A psychologist also supports the emotional side of autism, ADHD and learning difficulties — that emotional work often sits inside our wider autism support programme. For worry specifically, start with what actually helps an anxious child at home.
Is a psychologist or a behaviour (ABA) therapist right for my child?
As a rough guide: if the difficulty is mostly about feelings — worry, sadness, fear, confidence — start with the psychologist. If it is mostly about skills and behaviour getting in the way of daily life, start with behavioural therapy and ABA. Many children need both. We work it out with you rather than asking you to choose blind, and there is a fuller comparison of who does what in our team.
Do you diagnose ADHD or autism?
Our psychologist contributes to assessment and to understanding what is behind your child’s difficulties, working alongside the rest of the team. Where the question looks developmental rather than emotional, we usually begin with a full developmental assessment, then explain in plain words what the findings mean and what the next step is.
Are female staff available, and will my child see the same person each time?
Our founder and speech and language therapist is a woman, as are both our ABA therapists; our clinical and child psychologist is a man. Tell us what your family would prefer when you get in touch and we will be straight with you about what we can arrange. Children see the same person from session to session wherever we can manage it, because trust is most of the work.
Will therapy be harsh, or will my child be punished for how they behave?
No. Nothing we do rests on punishment, shouting or shaming. We work out what a behaviour is doing for your child, teach a better way to get the same thing, and use plenty of encouragement. If an approach is upsetting your child, we change it — and you are welcome to ask exactly what happens in a session before you commit.
How many sessions will my child need, and can we do this online?
It depends on what the assessment finds, so we work in short blocks with a review at the end of each one rather than an open-ended course. Some children need a handful of sessions; others need steadier support for longer. Counselling with younger children works best face to face, but for families outside Multan we also run online parent coaching and behaviour support by video.
Is what my child tells the psychologist kept private?
Yes. Sessions are confidential and handled with care. Parents stay involved and informed in a way that suits your child’s age. The one exception is safety: if we believe a child is at risk of harm, we act on it and we tell you why.
How do we start, and do we need a referral first?
No referral and no diagnosis needed. Message or call, tell us what you are noticing, and the first conversation is free — it is a chat, not an assessment. If child psychology is not the right starting point, we say so and point you to whichever of our children’s therapy services fits better. You can contact the centre in Multan by phone or WhatsApp, Monday to Saturday.
Worried about your child? Let’s talk.
A short, friendly conversation is the best first step. Call, text or WhatsApp us — we’ll listen and guide you, with no pressure.
MPS Road, Block A Model Town, Multan (near Bloomfield Hall School, Street No. 2) · Mon–Sat, 10 AM – 7 PM